The Three Gifts
by Celestial Eclissi-Chan
Summary: "I give unto you three gifts, dear child, which will become great assets to you in the future." Fem!allen x Kanda. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Prologue

**Summary:** "I give unto you three gifts, dear child, which will become great assets to you in the future."

**Warnings:** Gender-bending, Kanda x Allen, the usual.

'**Clessi-chan: Hi! Thank you for clicking the link to this fic, I hope you enjoy.**

**Three Gifts Chapter 1**

"Push, ma'am! Push!" a nursemaid yelled over her patient's screaming. "I'm trying, damn it!" yelled the woman who was giving birth. "Just breathe! I can see the head now!" The nursemaid called back, completely disregarding the curse. "UUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she cried, in agony

A loud cry was heard over all the yelling and screaming. The new baby had just taken its first breath. "It's a girl!" came the delighted squeal of one of the nurses. She was quickly wiped down, bundled up, and handed over to her mother. The nursemaids that had helped her give birth filed out, to let mother meet child privately and in peace. She smiled down at the new born that had just come out of her, the baby was beautiful. She gently rocked her new child in her arms to calm her, while humming a small lullaby. The little girl eventually fell into a deep sleep; her small face and little tuft of brown hair making her look almost angelic. The baby moved a little in her sleep then settled down, grabbing at her mother's finger. Something about the baby caught the mother's eye. She pulled the baby out of its wrappings slightly, and got the fright of her life.

A loud scream was heard outside the room the mother and child were in, and soon after a baby's agonized screams were heard too. The nursemaids ran into the room they had left them both in, in a rush. "What's wrong ma'am!" one called "It's that-that _thing_! Get that _demon _away from me!" she yelled, cowering at the edge of the bed, as far away from the screaming child as possible. Distorted _'why'_s and _'how could this happen'_s were heard from her. They all cautiously peered at the babe. The child was disheveled of its swaddling cloth and looked like it had been haphazardly thrown away. The nurses didn't understand at first, what could be so wrong that a mother would call her own new born a demon? Then they all saw it, the child's left arm.

It was completely black, extending to the shoulder with a silvery-white four-pointed star (for the story's sake) on the hand. The black skin extended up her shoulder where it swirled into wave like patterns and had strange blade-looking things at the edges. A few of the nurses cried out in fear and took to a cowering position far away from the child. One brave nursemaid walked over to the child and picked it up by the swaddling cloth. Holding the babe at arms length the entire time, she carried it to the cradle that had been previously set up and roughly dropped her. She walked away from the cradle and back to the woman on the bed. "Come, miss. Let us take you away from the demon before it curses you." She said as she helped the hysterical woman to her feet and out the wooden door way and down the hall. "Come along, less you wish to be cursed by that foul beast!" she called when she realized that none of the other nurses were following her. All the remaining nurses jumped up at the mention of a curse, and scrambled to get out of the door. It was shut behind then with a loud _'Bang' _and a screaming new born girl left inside. The poor thing screamed till her throat was raw, but no one came to her aid. She was left to die, cold and alone.

**:'( **

For three days she was left there, cold an alone. By some holy miracle the new born child was still alive. She had stopped screaming on the first day, and not made a sound since then. One of the nursemaids that had helped give birth to her walked down the hallway outside of her room with the key. All the nurses assumed she was dead by now, having not heard any noise from her for two days, but oh how wrong they were.

The nurse with the key walked down the long hallway with the intention to get rid of the, what they now thought, dead 'demon' child. She unlocked the room and entered. Inside it looked like any other room in the building; there was a bed, a small desk with a chamber pot sitting atop it, and a large window with cotton curtains over it. However this one was an exception, it had a cradle with a supposedly dead child in it. The nurse walked over to the cradle and grabbed the soiled cloth still wrapped around the child and picked her up. She walked open to the window and opened the wooden shutters of it and dropped the child in the dung heap between the building and the next one. Once she was done she closed the shutters and walked out of the room swiftly.

Those who passed by didn't even notice the child falling out of a window, nor did they care. An old beggar woman walked by the large building, not really minding it much. She had a wooden cane and wore old tattered robes; some of her long grey hair obscured her forehead and her aged dark brown eyes. She decided to take a seat at the mouth of the ally beside it. Something white caught her eye and she looked over at it. There lay the little baby from the hospital, still alive. The old woman picked up the small child and placed it in her lap. She immediately spotted her left arm, and smiled. "Ah, at last I have found you, dear child." She said in a gentle tone. She gently rocked the baby in her arms, and smiled. The little girl heard the voice and with the last of her strength opened her eyes, revealing a stunning shade of motel silver. In the brief moment her eyes were open the old woman read three emotions that should never be seen in an infant; sorrow, confusion, and grief. A truly sad smile found its way onto the old woman's face. "I am so very sorry for you, little one." She said.

The old woman moved the hair obscuring her forehead to reveal a silver four pointed star, identical to the one on the child's hand. It began to glow as she spoke. "I give unto you three gifts, dear child, which will become great assets to you in the future. First I give you the gift of silence," a small camellia blossom bloomed on the infant's head and then disappeared, leaving a scar of its self in its place. "Second I give you the gift of beauty and gentleness." The little tuft of hair on the infant's head turned snow white and her star began to shine brightly, almost as if it were smiling. "And lastly the greatest gift of all, which has yet to be determined and will always be one to cherish." The old woman smiled as the infant drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

She pushed up on the wooden cane she had and stood to take the sleeping child to the local orphanage, where hopefully she would be treated fairly and without prejudices. The woman dearly hoped this for the chosen child in her arms, but she knew better. Humans rejected those they viewed as a threat or different, and because of her arm she would never be accepted. A weary sigh escaped her lips as she walked on, not a single passerby taking any notice of her or the child. She approached a large school-house looking building that seemed to radiate happiness and safety. The old woman walked up to the door and placed the child on the step and walked away. She looked back once, to look at the child and shook her head; she walked on.

She walked for quite a while till she was roughly pulled into an ally and found a hand through her chest. She opened and closed her mouth, unable to speak. She looked up the hand that was through her chest to find to figures, both in top hats. The thinner of the two had his arm through her, and from the other she could see the refection of shining teeth and glasses. "We've finally found you." He said in a sinister voice. "A wise disguise, I hardly recognized you. Playing dress up as an old beggar woman, I would have never suspected. Well I suppose this is good bye, dear." Said the plumper of the two.

Blood flowed out of the old woman's mouth as she smiled. "You're too...late...earl. The child...has already….." she rasped her last words and died. The one addressed as earl disregarded the words and began walking out of the ally. "Come Tiki-pyon, we must leave this filthy place." Called the fat man in a singsong voice. The thinner one, Tiki, threw the old woman's corpse to the ground and followed after the other. The woman's corpse was left there to rot, and no one cared.

'**Clessi-chan: And that's a wrap!**

**Ally-chan: Why am I a girl? *reads story again* NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME! *cries***

**Kanda: *hugs his Moyashi and glares at the authoress***

'**Clessi-chan: What? Oh don't you dare give me that look young man or I **_**will**_** change this to a Laven. *wags finger***

**Lavi: That's where my opinion is! :)**

'**Clessi-chan: -_-" Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, and please review! It was kinda fun writing this, and it's an interesting take one Ally-chan's beginnings, ne? Thanks for reading! Oh and one last note I changed the cross on Allen's hand to a star to fit in better with the story, and his scar is still on his face, but instead of going down his left cheek it's a blossom in the middle of his forehead. Hope that cleared up some stuff!**

**Ja Ne Minna-san!**

**P.S. Reviews are also know as muse food! Just thought I'd let people know! Bye-Bye now!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Nameless Little Girl

'**Clessi-chan: Hey guys! Wow! 5 reviews! I didn't think this story would be so well liked, thank you guys sooo much! I have a few words before I start the next chapter though, please be just a little more patient! **

**To baylee1100: You were my first reviewer! Thank you! Well here's your update, as requested. I can't tell you that! You'll just have to wait and find out! :P**

**To D . GrayManGrl: You are my second reviewer, thank you! I thank you for the lovely complement, but I seriously don't deserve it. I'm sure you write just fine, keep trying and it'll come to you.**

**To MidnightAbyssx02: It's always fun to read your reviews, I just love your antics! Lol, here's the update as requested.**

**To PandoraLover56: here's your update, as requested! Thank you for the encouraging words!**

**To ruler of the ice dragons: Thank you for your kind words. I agree it is unique, I've never read anything like it either. I actually was walking my dog at the time I thought of it!**

**Thank you all of my reviewers/favorites/alerts, I love you guys a lot! You make me so happy! So without further ado I present 'The Three Gifts' chapter one.**

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The night was quiet in the small town. The allies were silent as all of the town's people laid their heads down on a pillow and were wrapped in Somnus' arms as he carried them to the land of dreams. All the windows shut and locked tight. All the children sleeping peacefully in their beds, wrapped up in their comforters. All but one.

One child, one nameless white-haired six year old girl stood up from all her peers. She wore a thin two-sizes-too-big blouse and a pair of tattered brown breeches. This was the day. The day she would _finally_ be free from the abusive orphanage. She stood for a moment to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness in her attic bedroom, and some bedroom it was. A more proper word for it would be prison. The only thing in it was a straw mat covered by a thin sheet in the far corner, and an old and rotted wooden door that was locked from the outside. There were three windows that lined up on the left wall that gave a wonderful view of the town, and tonight it would provide her escape route. She slowly opened the window in the middle; it was the quietest of the three. Once the window was open she looked out for a moment, checking for onlookers. When there were none she pulled her head back inside the small space. She contemplated for a moment then decided to tie up her waist length hair in a high pony-tail with a piece of spare string she had found.

Once she had her hair tied up, she peaked out the window again. As fast as she could she pulled herself out of the attic and onto the windowsill. Slowly she made her way down the side of the building. Once her feet hit the ground she took off running. No one could stop her, she was free. She ran and ran till the small town was out of sight, and far behind her. She ran until dawn where she came across a cross roads. Off to the side of the cross roads stood a large oak tree with lush green leaves that would do well to keep her out of sight. She scurried up the tree as fast as she could and climbed till the ground was far below her. Once up in the tree she looked around. There were some branches, that with a little tweaking would create a perfect little nest. She grabbed three of the branches and wove them together as best she could and laid them down to form the part her body would lay on. Then grabbed some surrounding branches and wove them in to create the walls. After about an hour she was finished and admired her handy work. When she deemed it satisfactory enough she climbed into the nest and laid her head down to rest as dreams of a new future danced behind her eyes.

**=)**

The girl was startled awake by snapping twigs and a strange fluttering sound right by her head. She heard what sounded like cart wheels rolling and snippets of chatter from the people below her. She looked around in the tree she was trying to figure out what was making the small fluttering noise. She looked over her left shoulder and that's when she saw it. There was a little black bird sitting on one of the small branches of the tree she was in. It seemed to be struggling to hold onto the branch itself. It seemed to catch movement out of the side of its eye and looked directly at her. She could see the black bird completely, but what startled her most was a silver four-pointed star on its forehead.

Now that she looked closely she could see silver patches on the bird's feathers, at the end of its tail feathers there was a small stripe of silver on each and the rest of its feathers were coal black. Something protruded from one of the bird's wings. Upon closer inspection she noticed that it was an arrow from a crossbow. The blunt shaft was lodged deep in the bird's feathers, staining its feathers with thick red blood. The bird twittered and hopped up onto a branch close to where it had fallen. When it attempted to fly it made a loud squawking noise and fell back in pain. As the little girl watched all this, she noticed that no other birds in the tree came to provide help; they just stared with their beady, accusing eyes.

'_He's just like me. All the other birds hate him, and abandoned him in his time of need.'_ thought the little girl sadly, nearly crying at the thought. She held out her hands to the bird. It seemed reluctant at first, but eventually hopped into her hands. She brought the bird close to examine the wound. The shaft had pierced its wing, but hadn't gone all the way through and the bone was still intact. She gently stroked the bird's feathered head as it seemed to be warming up to her. It twittered a sweet little tune to her, almost as if asking her to pull the arrow out. An understanding look came into her eyes, and she nodded to the bird. With it resting on her black hand she moved her other to grab the tip of the arrow that wasn't lodged into flesh. The bird tensed and braced it's self; she quickly yanked the arrow out. A squawk of pain came from the bird, but it stayed on her hand. She took the hem of her overly large shirt and ripped a long strip from it. She quickly wrapped it around the bird's injured wing and tied the ends together. The bird cooed at her as if saying 'thank you'. It hopped up her arm and onto her shoulder where it nuzzled her soft cheek. She smiled and patted the bird's head.

She looked around and saw that it was past midday. Under her there were no voices to be heard. She stood up and undid her makeshift cradle. Once done she swiftly climbed down the tree and started to run again, the black and silver bird still on her shoulder.

**=) **

After running for about an hour, she came across another town. This one was much livelier than the old dreary one she had come from. It seemed as if there was a festival going on, there were decorations all over and all sorts of stalls selling all kinds of things, from food to toys. She looked around with wonder. There was so much life around her, the squeals of small children, the hearty laughter of old men, the chatter of gossip from women. The sounds were all so foreign to her; the dreary place she lived in was always so silent.

All around her were smiling faces, so very happy. Above the joyous noise she heard a strange tune, it was lively and jumpy, it made her very soul dance with joy. She walked across the town towards that heavenly music. Eventually she came to a large orange and red two tone tent that was set up so that it had three towers, one in the middle and two on each side, each with a two tone flag in the top. In front of it there were….people? On one side there were the people dressed in large, fluffy clothes and had an absurd amount of funny looking makeup on their faces. On the adjacent side were some poles set up and a line strung up between them, there were people in leotards jumping around on them doing all sorts of tricks and flips. And in the middle one there was a man standing on a ball with the same big fluffy clothes as the other ones, but with a pumpkin on his head, and he was juggling.

Just watching the performers brought joy to her heart. She pushed her way to the front of the thick crowd, and listed to the happy, joyful music coming from musicians on the sidelines. She became captivate by the music, she placed the small bird on the ground and walked out onto the space where the man was juggling and with the music filling her heart and soul, she closed her silver eyes and began to dance.

Twists and turns, jumps and slides, dips and pulls, her body flowed with the music. A genuine smile creped onto her face, all she could hear was the music. She was in a world all of her own, where there was no pain or sorrow, and she loved it.

The music gradually slowed and eventually stopped completely, and she was brought out of her little world with a jolt. She stopped dancing and looked around her. All eyes were on her, wide with amazement. Her little black bird hopped to her and she picked him up and placed him on her shoulder. She stood there and turned beat red, she brought her hand up to her lip and waited for someone to yell at her. But what she heard was the absolute opposite, first a single clap resonated, then several more, and soon the entire crowd was clapping and cheering and whistling. A tall man in a top hat and green pinstriped suit with a crimson shirt underneath walked out of the crowd. He walked up to the small girl with a gentle smile on his face and kneeled down to her level. "Hello young one, your dancing was beautiful could you tell me who your parents are?" he asked in a kind and gentle voice. The crowd quieted as they had recognized the man.

She shook her head and looked down to her feet, fiddling with the torn hem of her shirt. A soft worried look overcame the man's features. "No parents? Oh, you poor thing. Will you tell me your name?" The little girl looked up. She brought her hand up and pointed to her throat, and shook her head. The man had an understanding look in his eye. "A mute? Oh my. Have you a name little one." A sorrowful look flashed across her face as she shook her head. This nearly brought tears to the man's eyes; she had gone her entire life without a name. It was truly tragic. "Well little one, would you be willing to join my troop? We could use an amazing dancer like you." A look of absolute glee crossed her face before she nodded her head vigorously. The man smiled. He stood and held out his hand to her. She gave him her hand and he held it up. "Ladies and gentlemen I present to you our newest troop member!" he shouted. The crowd went wild, cheering her on. The man looked down to her. "My name's Mana Walker, now let's get you inside and get you ready for your first show." Said Mana smiling.

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'**Clessi-chan: And that's a wrap! Whew! Hope you all liked the newest chapter! Ooh, what happens next? Well, we'll have to find out wont we? Hope you liked. Well till next time!**

**Ja Ne!**

**P.S. Reviews = Muse chow!**


	3. Chapter 2: The First Preformance Part 1

_Hey guys! It's been a while hasn't it? Well as promised here's the newest chapter to "_The Three Gifts"_ so enjoy!_

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**Chapter 2: The First Performance Part 1**

The man, Mana, took the little girl's hand and led her through the encroaching crowd and over to the gigantic tent. He held open the flap for her to enter with a bright smile, the inside of the tent looking terrifying yet inviting at the same time. She examined the entrance carefully and weighed her options, moving one foot forward she warily took the first step into foreign territory.

On the inside the tent seemed even bigger than outside, the tops reaching on up into the sky. She looked around the dark tent in wonder, there was a little bit of light filtering through small holes in the flaps illuminating the inside just enough to see where you were walking. Her little black bird, who sat on her shoulder, twittered happily to her and was eagerly looking about at the immense flight possibilities after his wing was healed. "Follow me little one, you'll get to see this later tonight." Said the kind and gentle voice of Mana.

She quickly followed after him still looking around. The little girl walked next to him and looked at his hand hanging there by his side. His hands had been so warm on hers and had completely dwarfed her tiny ones in comparison. She contemplated for a moment then reached up and tentatively took his hand, unsure if he would still allow the simple action. Smiling, Mana looked down to the young child walking next to him and made no move to try and remove her hand from his.

Eventually they came to a smaller tent area set up with a vanity that held all kinds of make ups and tools for applying it, and a back bathroom area with a tub/shower to bathe in. "You go wash up while I pick out a dress for you and decide how to do your make up." Said Mana as he pointed to the tub area near the back. She nodded and placed her bird on the vanity and walked inside, the small flap closing behind her.

The small white haired girl looked around the bathroom in amazement. It was a fairly large size, on the far left corner there was an enormous tub that could at least fit five people comfortably, and on the far right there was a much larger vanity that took up almost the entire length of the wall. Along the edge of the tub was an array of bath salts, bubble mixtures, and shampoo and conditioners. She looked along the selection, but couldn't tell what she wanted, so she decided to smell them. As she went along the wall and sniffed the various different body care solutions, there were some that shot her to heaven and others that made her wrinkle her nose. She decided she liked the cinnamon apple bath salts and bubble bath, and the vanilla scented shampoo and conditioner.

She smiled as she ran the water into the tub and added plenty of bath salts and bubbles. Once the tub was full of warm and bubbly water she shut the water off and climbed in, sighing in contentment. The warm water soothed her and helped reassure her that she had made the right decision in coming here. After all this was better than a freezing cold dunk in the well out back in the yard of the orphanage, but then again anything would be better than that place. She gently cleansed her body of all the dirt and grime that had collected within the last twenty-four hours, and washed her beautiful long white hair.

If there was anything she prided herself on it was her hair. She had always loved the beautiful snow white color of it, even though it made her stick out even more coupled with her arm, and when she brushed it out it was like fine white silk. After she had washed and rinsed her hair she soaked in the bath for a little while, enjoying the new experience.

She must have been in there for a while longer than she thought when she heard Mana call for her. "Little one are you alright in there? I do think it is time for you to come out." he called from the other side of the tent flap a note of amusement hidden in his voice. She got out and drained the tub and quickly proceeded to dry herself off and put her mismatched clothes back on. When she was done she opened the flap and walked back through to the dressing room letting it flutter closed behind her. She stood there and patiently waited for Mana to turn and address her. He turned towards her, and smiled that same warm smile that he gave her earlier.

"Well, now that you're clean how about we get started on your costume and make up." He said happily. She nodded mutely, but there was curiosity in her gaze. "Now sit here and I'll put your hair up." He told her and patted the cushioned stool for her to sit on. She quickly climbed onto it and sat still placing her hands neatly in her lap sitting with as good of posture as a six year old could manage. Mana admired the simple, child-like grace and elegance that seemed to radiate from the little one before him, wondering where she possibly could have learned such traits in such a horrid place she had been. He decided to leave that trail of thought for another time, lest it lead him to a very dark place within his mind that did not need to be explored.

Mana picked up one of the hair brushes on the vanity and began to gently brush out any knots or tangles possibly hiding in her white tresses. As he brushed it out, he noticed how well kept it was, granted it could use a bit of a trim, but other than that her hair was near perfection. After he finished brushing it, he started to gather her hair in his hands, retrieving a hair tie from the vanity and proceeded to tie her hair into a pony tail high on the back of her head. With that done he took hold of her hair once more and wrapped it around the hair tie in a circle, creating a bun. He took several light colored bobby pins and secured the bun to her head, reaching down for the vanity again, he pulled out a beautifully crafted butterfly hair piece. The butterfly's wings were the soft satin blue of the early dawn, outlined in small lines of silver, encrusted with almost invisible diamonds around the edges, bouncing light of in a multitude of colors. Mana placed the pin under the bun in just the right way as to make the butterfly appear as if it were nestled between the gathering of hair and her head. The little girl's black bird tweeted in what seemed to be approval, garnering a smile from both parties in the room.

"There, all finished. Now let's pick out a dress. Shall we?" Mana spoke in his gentle tones, holding out his hand for her. She reached out for it with minimal hesitation and followed him as he led her to what could only be a closet full of costumes. Mana opened the door and rummaged through for a moment or two before making a triumphant sound in the back of his throat. "Aha! Here it is, just the one I was looking for!" Mana said in apparent glee. He pulls back out of the closet, tugging a small white dress with him. "Here, change in there." Mana said as he gestured to a flap off to the side that the little girl hadn't noticed before. When she was finished changing, she came back out of the small side room. Mana smiled at her and appraised how the dress looked on her.

The dress itself was made of a silver satin like material that caught the light in a slightly metallic way. The neckline stopped at about half way between her neck and her chest, outlined in soft blue ribbon matching the butterfly's wings. The sleeves of the dress hugged her arms to the elbow and were tied off in the same soft blue ribbon; from there a lacy sheer material with outlines of silver took over and went to her hands, forming a rough kind of triangle with the top resting on her hands and the bottom fluttering down to her mid thigh. At the waist of the dress there was a soft blue sash, tied into a bow at the back with the release hanging down to mid thigh. The skirt of the dress was made of the same white satin material as the rest of the dress with a layer of the same sheer material as on the arms over it. All in all she looked quite stunning.

Mana smiled again, "Well, looks like I made a good choice. The dress suits you well." He said. Mana patted the stool she had sat in previously, in a sort of 'sit here' gesture. "Now let's finish up with your make up and you should be ready for your first show." The little girl nodded and sat on the stool once again. Mana picked up one of the small bushes on the vanity with a short clipped appearance and took out a silver eye power. He placed some on the brush and applied it to her eyes. Once he was done with that he took a smaller, finer brush like that an artist would use for the smaller details, and took some black eye paint and outlined her eyes and elongated the line slightly, creating a somewhat cat-like look. From there he took a much larger brush that had the bristles fanning out slightly and creating a rough circle, with that brush he took some soft pink powder and lightly applied it onto her cheeks, giving them a nice rosy appearance. Finally he took another brush off the vanity, a standard paint brush, and took some clear lip gloss and applied it to her small lips.

With that finished, he took a step back and admired his handy work. Mana brought a hand up to his chin in a contemplative position, thinking. "Hmm. There seems to be something missing." He said in the same contemplative manner. Mana's eyes roved over her face, trying to figure out what the missing part was. When he looked to her exposed forehead, he found the light birthmark of a Tsubaki blossom that rested on her forehead. On a whim, he took one of the finer brushes off the vanity and some silver face paint. He traced over it with the silver paint making it stand out on her face. Once done with that he nodded, his smile making reappearance on his face. "Well, I think you're done little girl." The small white haired child nodded, smiling herself.

Out in the main body of the tents, a ruckus had started catching the attention of the two in the smaller part of the tent. Mana gestured to the little girl to follow as he held open the flap that had led them into the little preparation room. In the main body of the tent there were several people, laughing and telling jokes, jumping and playing around. The antics of the people, whom, now she thought about it, were most likely her new troop members, brought a smile to her face. If she'd had a voice she'd probably be giggling, but seeing as she couldn't she brought her hand up to her chin where a glossy smile was playing upon her lips. One of the performers dressed up as a clown looked over in their direction, his red painted smile expanded when he saw the two. "Well, look over here!" he called in a warm tenure voice, gaining the attention of the group of performers. He walked over to the little girl standing by Mana, kneeling down to her level when he reached her. "Hello, little one. My name is Thomas, Tom for short." He said in a warm and welcoming voice with a smile to match. He held out his hand to the little girl in a friendly manner. She looked at it contemplatively for a moment, trying to think of what one did to reciprocate the gesture. Drawing a blank she just held out her right hand in the same manner as the man before her.

Tom chuckled at her actions, "Your other hand, little one." He said, a hint of amusement mixed into his warm tone. The little girl lowered her right hand and nodded to show that she did indeed understand, but thought on what he was saying for a moment. Her other hand, the left one, was mutated, the skin on it appearing black with a silver star on the back of her hand. She hesitated with showing it to them, but shook her head and figured they would find about it one way or another so she brought her left hand up to shake Tom's. When their hands touched and Tom paused, she half expected him to pull away in disgust. She looked away and waited for him to start yelling and cursing her, but the shaking of her hand catching her off guard causing her eyes to widen.

When the little girl had brought her black left hand up to shake with Tom's, he stopped to look at it quizzically for a moment wondering at the curiousness of it. It was the flash of hurt and understanding in the white haired child's eyes that brought him out of his daze. He shook her hand without the slightest hint of disgust in him, watching as her eyes widened with surprise. Tom's heart ached for her in that moment, realizing that the poor girl had probably been denied human contact because of her arm. With the young child looking at him curiously, he chuckled again. "This is how you greet someone you've just met, it's called a handshake." Tom said in the same tone he had used before. She nodded her head again in understanding. Rising from the kneeling position he'd been in, Tom took hold of the little girl's hand and tugged her over to the rest of the troop. "Hey everyone! This is the newest addition Mana brought in, come meet her!" he called, his cheerful voice catching everyone's attention.

In all, there were twelve other people in the troop, seven men and five women. They all made their way over to where Tom and the little girl were standing, chit-chatting and laughing with each other all along the way. Tom indicated to the new people standing around them with one of his hands in a circling motion. "This is the cast and crew of Mana's traveling circus." He said. "Well guys, come introduce yourselves!" he said, making the circling gesture with his hand again.

The first one to step forward was a huge hulking man. He was dressed in a red leotard that was relatively form-fitting. His form was well muscled, speaking of years of careful practicing on the trapeze. On his face was a well trimmed and groomed handlebar mustache that was as black as a starless night. On his head, there was hair of the same color that was styled in a buzz-cut. "Kello." He said, his voice laced with a heavy Russian accent. "Mai name is Jack." Jack held out large hand for her to shake. The little girl reached her hand out to his and reciprocated the gesture. Jack's lips twitched up into a small smirk as he let go of the child's absolutely tiny hand in comparison to his. He stepped back to allow the others to get a chance to introduce themselves.

One at a time the others introduced themselves to her, after Jack a tiny little woman that was just a bit taller than she was barreled into her and started spinning around and hugging her tightly. She introduced herself as Catrina, Cat for short; she had long, wavy chestnut hair and happy purple eyes. She spoke really fast as she told her about her role in the troop as a contortionist and one of the trapeze performers. Besides Jack, Cat, and Tom, there was a boy named Matthew who was in his late teens, he was a very polite young man with spiky red hair and playful brown eyes. He was one of the clowns; he mostly juggled more than anything else.

The next to introduce themselves was a set of triplets, each of them had platinum blond hair the brushed the floor when loose as it was paired with sets of sky blue eyes riddled with flecks of silver. The oldest of the three, by a handful of minutes, was named Ella her younger sister was named Bella and the youngest of them was called Anabella. According to them they hosted an illusion act by using their almost identical features; the only thing that really defined them from each other was a birth mark on their left cheeks. Ella's birthmark resembled a humming bird, Bella's heart, and Anabella's a rose, but at a distance or with the right make up they were nearly identical.

A married couple introduced themselves next. The woman of the pair went by the name Juliet; she was rather tall for a woman and stood on almost equal ground with her husband. She had her long raven hair pulled up into an intricately knotted braid that fell down her back, the striking contrast of her light green eyes and pale skin against her hair worked rather well for her. Marcus, Juliet's husband, was almost a polar opposite. He had a nicely tanned complexion that did well with his dark grey eyes and dirty blond hair. They participated in a balancing act between them that could take the breath away from an entire crowd and they did amazing jumping stunts on the trapeze.

A set of four brothers introduced themselves next, while they were still in their get up for performing it was rather easy to tell what they did. Each of the four had on varying different outfits and makeup of clowns. The eldest of the four shook her little hand and told that his name was David, then pulled out a small flower and held it out for her; as soon as she took the flower it turned around and squirted him in the face with water. The antics of both the flower and clown elicited silent giggles from the little girl. The next three to introduce themselves as Jonathan, Michel and James respectively from second eldest to youngest. Each of the three remaining brothers preformed similar comedic antics that again brought forth pearls of silent laughter from the little one

The clapping of a large pair of hands brought their attention to the one creating the din. Mana, in his matching green pin stripped suit and top hat, beckoned the little girl toward him and placed one of his large warm hands on her shoulder. "Now that she's met everyone, we need to decide on her name." he said in a jovial voice. The group converged in on itself as they worked on giving the child a name, each of them throwing in a suggestion here and there. Cat happily stepped forward a bit and said in her convivial voice, "We've picked out a name for her if she'll have it." A smile lit Cat's eyes at the thought.

The edges of Mana's mouth quirked into a smile as he played along with Cat. "Well don't keep us in suspense! Tell us her name!" he said in the same tone of voice Cat had used. "We thought Alaina would be the best choice for her. She said with the utmost happiness and sincerity. The entire group focused their attention on the small child, watching and waiting to see how she reacted to her new name. The smile that adorned her glossy lips was one of great contentment and joy as she nodded her consent at the great gift she'd been given. Each member of the troop, her new family, reached in to hug her as the bond between them all was sealed with the addition of the newest little member. Cat reached over to plant an affectionate kiss on the little girl's rosy cheek as she hugged her just a bit tighter than the others as she whispered into the child's ear. "Welcome to the troop Alaina."

* * *

_And that's the end of this chapter, hoped y'all enjoyed! It's actually fairly long considering the actual chapter is almost 3,450 words long._

_LBM: Well that sure took you forever. __-_-_

_Hey! It's not my fault, fate, the bitch, decided to throw ne a curve ball and between school and my free time there's not very much!_

_LBM: Still took you forever_

_*pouts* Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review!_

_Ja ne, My darlings!_


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